2 Chronicles 30:8
“Now do not stiffen your neck like your fathers, but yield to the LORD and enter His sanctuary which He has consecrated forever, and serve the LORD your God, that His burning anger may turn away from you.”
This is the request God gives to mankind. Do not stiffen your necks. Return to me that I might forgive and restore blessing. That His burning anger may turn away.
Why don’t people listen to this invitation? We love being in control. We want to do what we want to do when we want to do it.
Does God want to take away our fun? Of course not. He does have standards and some things are forbidden. He has created all of our drives and the means to satisfy them. The context He gives would provide the most satisfaction.
I know it sounds primitive, but these things are idols. We are yielding to another god. It might be pleasure, power, money and so on.
It’s the natural manner of people to drift. If we aren’t paying attention to ourselves we could end up on the rocks.
There is another factor, the devil. He despises God and seeks to draw all astray. His marketing is effective. He’s got a large percentage of the population deceived. Christians aren’t immune to his tricks. The Holy Spirit works against him, but people don’t always go with God.
And yet another factor is the world. This is the ungodly popular opinion. It’s in Hollywood, it’s in colleges, the business community and so on. Jesus had the world against Him. Rome, Herod and the religious community were some of them. They crucified Him.
We have the world against us. It shames us, calls us old fashioned or extreme. We will rarely be part of the cool crowd. That’s ok. Don’t seek to join. Don’t be a rebel, but don’t seek to be accepted. Let be what is. Serve God regardless.
God seeks to draw us. We are to be sensitive to Him. Hebrews 5:14 refers to our spiritual senses. “But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained their senses to distinguish good from evil.” The solid food is God’s Word, bible teaching and His wisdom. Today’s passage warns against being stiff necked. This is stubbornness that wants it’s own way. It’s disobedience.
We are to yield to the Lord. Like we yield to oncoming traffic. Let God have the right of way. I am presently having coworker problems. I feel like I’m being treated unfairly. I have tried appealing the issues to the administration. They have made things worse. I have to let it go. Don’t seek my rights. I hear Jesus’ words, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.” Not to compare my situation, but He let it go and prayed for them. I need to do that. Turn the other cheek. I need Your help and grace.
Lord, help us to respond to You. Not to be stiff necked. Thank You for open arms.